Ball



B. R. VORBUSCH 2,257,252 A 7.

7 Filed July 1, 1959 Patented Sept. 30, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE1 Claim.

The invention relates to balls, and has for its object to provide adevice of this character with a covering formed from a knitted materialhaving open spaces forming air pockets to prevent the ball from stingingthe hands during a catching operation.

A further object is to form the cover from a knitted or woven materialhaving loops of its stitches embedded in the ball body thereby anchoringthe cover to the ball in a manner whereby the cover will be maintainedsubstantially intact upon the breakage of a stitch.

A further object is to form the covering from a continuous strand,spirally wound and stitched from one side of the ball to the other.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in thecombination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown inthe drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope ofWhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of the improved ball.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the ball.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the ball cover andball, showing the method of anchoring the stitches in the ball 30 body.

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the body of the ballwhich may be 35 formed in the usual manner from strands wound to acylindrical form.

Heretofore balls are relatively hard and smooth and they sting the handsduring a catching operation. provides an open work knitted covering overthe ball body to form air pockets 2 for cushioning the catchingoperation and preventing the stinging sensation. To accomplish thisresult the ball body I, is provided with a knitted or woven cover Toavoid this difficulty, applicant 3, preferably spirally knitted as shownin Figure 2, from one side of the ball to the other. At spaced points,during the knitting operation, bights 4 are threaded through the ballbody I for anchoring the stitches thereto as well as the thread of thebody, clearly shown in Figure 3. The bights 4 are looped through theloops 5 of the stitches and in turn extend downwardly as at 6 to formthe next loop. This zigzagging arrangement continues until the entirebody I is covered, therefor it will be seen that the covering isanchored at each stitch over the entire ball surface. By anchoring eachand every stitch, it will be seen that the knitted covering ispositively anchored to the ball body and should any'stitch break, forinstance at the portion 6, shown in Figure 3, the knitted covering wouldnot become loose and the ball could still be used.

It will be noted, referring to Figure 2, that the stitch is spirallyformed from one side to the other of the ball, and that the cover may bemade from a single strand. Figure 3 clearly shows the knittingoperation, for instance the continuous strand from a to b and thelooping idea for anchoring each stitch to the ball body.

From the above it will be seen that a ball is provided with a knittingcovering forming air spaces or pockets for preventing the ball fromhurting the hands. Th covering may be formed from difierent kinds ofcord or from wool material where a relatively soft ball is desired.

The invention having set forth what is claimed as new and useful is:

A cover for a ball having a spherical shape, said cover being formedfrom a single strand spirally formed from one pole of the ball to theother and in a chain stitch including connecting stitches betweenadjacent convolutions of the spiral stitches, loops forming theconnections between the connecting stitches and the spiral stitches,said loops extending into the ball a sub stantial distance below thesurface thereof and entirely embedded beneath the surface of the ballbody along the line of spiral.

BENJAMIN R. VORBUSQI -I.

